THE IMAGINATION PROJECT - A celebration of 400 years of Intellectual Property from 1617 to 2017.

Ted Humble-Smith was commissioned by The GREAT Campaign in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office to conceptualise 50 Patents from it’s 400 year history into a series of images. These images celebrate patents which defined our past, present day, and will go on to shape our futures. Ted curated a team of set designers, artists, special effects masters as well as leading scientists and doctors to transform a patent number into a visual embodiment of the concept.

In this gallery are a selection of those groundbreaking patents.

Patent No. EP1887595 - Interactive Textiles - 2000

Infi-tex flexible textiles are based on quantum technology. Invented by David Lussey in 2000 the technology allows any textile to be transformed into an interactive surface.

Patent No. GB2368450 - Ceres Power - 2000

Fuel cells are the most efficient way of converting fuel to power. Ceres Power’s ingenious process for printing electrically-active ceramic ink onto steel, enables high efficiency production of cheaper, cleaner energy.

A fuel cell uses a chemical process to generate electricity. Inside the fuel cell, a catalyst strips hydrogen into positively charged hydrogen ions and electrons. The positive ions pass across a special membrane and react with oxygen (from the air) to form water. The electrons flow through a circuit to generate electricity.

Patent No. GB169800354 - Epsom Salts - 1698

The first medicinal patent granted in Britain dates from 1698. It was awarded to Nehemiah Grew for Epsom Salts, a product inspired by the healing waters of Epsom thought to have soothing properties. Image created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB685286 - Holography - 1947

Dennis Gabor patented the first technique for creating holograms in the UK in 1947. His breakthrough was to find a way to record and reconstruct the 3D light pattern of an object. Nowadays the most common example is the white dove used on the back of millions of bank cards.

Created in collaboration with Emma Winter.

Patent No. GB190626671 - Kinemacolor - 1906

In the early 1900s George Albert Smith pioneered the first successful colour film process with a technique that exposed black & white film to red and green filters.

Created in collaboration with Emma Winter.

Patent No. GB269658 - Television - 1927

John Logie Baird was the Scottish inventor who, improvised the world’s first TV apparatus from scrap materials. Has any invention impacted our culture more than the television?

Patent No. EP0018197 - Dyson 1980

After 5,127 prototypes, James Dyson had invented the worlds first bagless vacuum cleaner, using a cyclone to generate suction.Created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB2306366 - Friction Stir Welding - 1991

Friction Stir Welding is a way of joining two materials without any reduction in strength. The technique works by plunging a rotating tool between two plates. The friction then causes a plasticised zone to form around the tool and as the tool moves along the line between the two plates a solid joint is formed.

Since its invention, it has been used to build everything from iMacs to Hitachi trains and rockets.

Patent No. GB2499859 - Robotic Limb - 2017

Blatchford Group have created the world’s first robotic limb which behaves like a human leg. The smart robotics in the Linx Limb system constantly monitor and adapt to movements and automatically adjusts to the environment.

Patent No. GB189119401 - Wind Power - 1891

James Blyth construction his cloth-sailed, horizontal wind turbine at his holiday cottage in 1887 to power the lights. Perhaps the first time natures raw power was harvested, and the birth of renewable power generation.Created in collaboration with Martin Godward.

Patent No. GB190618057 - Sound-On-Film - 1906

From his Brixton laboratory in London, Eugene Lauste patented the earliest technique for adding sound to film by transforming sound waves into light waves. Known as optical recording.Created in collaboration with Yunis and Eliza & Burak Topalakci.

Patent No. GB2405530 - Plastic Electronics - 2001

Prof Sir Richard Friend pioneered ‘plastic electronics’ in 2001. His idea opens up the possibility of entirely flexible devices, where flat screens are replaced by those which bend, curve and mould.Created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB1145630 - Fibre Optics - 1966

Sir Charles Kao developed the technology for transmitting light through glass fibres in the 1960s. Kao’s contribution was to show that light absorption was caused by impurities in the glass rather than the glass itself. Removing these impurities allowed light to travel much further, by bouncing down the cables.collaboration with Martin Godward.

Patent No. GB2496429 - Hawk Eye - 2013

Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The system uses cameras patented by Hawk-Eye, the British company founded by Dr.Paul Hawkins. Dr Hawkins was pondering the subject for his thesis and began investigating how rocket science might be applied to sports to track the trajectory of a ball.

Patent No. GB185601984 - Mauveine - 1856

William Perkin patented the first synthetic dye, ‘Mauveine’ in 1856. His discovery revolutionised fashion and fifty years later had led to the existence of 2,000 artificial colours. Perkin was in fact attempting to produce synthetic quinine at the time.

Patent No. GB1197183 - ATM - 1970

The first ATM machines used paper tokens or bespoke plastic to dispense set amounts of cash. Once used the cards where recovered by branch staff and the amounts debited manually from customers accounts. The cards would then be returned to the customer by post.

Patent No. GB645691 - Random Access Memory //

The world’s first computer capable of running a stored program, the precursor to modern-day RAM, was built in the late 1940s by Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn.

Patent No. GB2433842 - Metamaterials - 2007

Prof Sir John Pendry patented the first practical means for making what are known as ‘metamaterials’ in 1995. A composite of different elements with unique properties, their potential ability to bend light is the key behind current research into cloaking devices.

Patent No. GB2104522 - Temozolomide - 1981

Cancer Research UK scientists discovered and carried out the first clinical trials of blockbuster brain tumour drug temozolomide. Used worldwide to treat people with the most common type of brain tumour, like most cancer drugs it works by stopping cancer cells from dividing thus effectivly killing them.

Patent No. GB2444656 - Witt Energy - 2008

WITT technology was the brainchild of Martin Wickett. WITT is a patented energy harvesting technology that takes the chaotic motion that is all around us (in everything from wind to humans) and turns it into useable power. It can do this across all six degrees of motion and can be built from a few inches to many metres.

Patent No. EP1887595 - Interactive Textiles - 2000

Infi-tex flexible textiles are based on quantum technology. Invented by David Lussey in 2000 the technology allows any textile to be transformed into an interactive surface.

Patent No. GB2368450 - Ceres Power - 2000

Fuel cells are the most efficient way of converting fuel to power. Ceres Power’s ingenious process for printing electrically-active ceramic ink onto steel enables high-efficiency production of cheaper, cleaner energy.

Patent No. GB2307072 - ARM Microprocessor - 1994

Patent No. GB725661- Fuel Cell -1952

A fuel cell uses a chemical process to generate electricity. Inside the fuel cell, a catalyst strips hydrogen into positively charged hydrogen ions and electrons. The positive ions pass across a special membrane and react with oxygen (from the air) to form water. The electrons flow through a circuit to generate electricity.

Patent No. GB169800354 - Epsom Salts - 1698

The first medicinal patent granted in Britain dates from 1698. It was awarded to Nehemiah Grew for Epsom Salts, a product inspired by the healing waters of Epsom thought to have soothing properties. Image created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB685286 – Holography - 1947

Dennis Gabor patented the first technique for creating holograms in the UK in 1947. His breakthrough was to find a way to record and reconstruct the 3D light pattern of an object. Nowadays the most common example is the white dove used on the back of millions of bank cards.

Created in collaboration with Emma Winter.

Patent No. GB190626671 – Kinemacolor - 906

In the early 1900s George Albert Smith pioneered the first successful colour film process with a technique that exposed black & white film to red and green filters.

Created in collaboration with Emma Winter.

Patent No. GB269658 – Television - 1927

John Logie Baird was the Scottish inventor who, improvised the world’s first TV apparatus from scrap materials. Has any invention impacted our culture more than the television?

Patent No. EP0018197 - Dyson 1980

After 5,127 prototypes, James Dyson had invented the world’s first bag less vacuum cleaner, using a cyclone to generate suction. Created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB2306366 - Friction Stir Welding - 1991

Friction Stir Welding is a way of joining two materials without any reduction in strength. The technique works by plunging a rotating tool between two plates. The friction then causes a plasticized zone to form around the tool and as the tool moves along the line between the two plates a solid joint is formed.

Since its invention, it has been used to build everything from iMacs to Hitachi trains and rockets.

Patent No. GB2499859 - Robotic Limb - 2017

Blatchford Group have created the world’s first robotic limb which behaves like a human leg. The smart robotics in the Linx Limb system constantly monitor and adapt to movements and automatically adjusts to the environment.

Patent No. GB189119401 - Wind Power - 1891

James Blyth construction his cloth-sailed, horizontal wind turbine at his holiday cottage in 1887 to power the lights. Perhaps the first-time natures raw power was harvested, and the birth of renewable power generation. Created in collaboration with Martin Godward.

Patent No. GB190618057 - Sound-On-Film - 1906

From his Brixton laboratory in London, Eugene Lauste patented the earliest technique for adding sound to film by transforming sound waves into light waves. Known as optical recording. Created in collaboration with Yunis and Eliza & Burak Topalakci.

Patent No. GB2405530 - Plastic Electronics - 2001

Prof Sir Richard Friend pioneered ‘plastic electronics’ in 2001. His idea opens up the possibility of entirely flexible devices, where flat screens are replaced by those which bend, curve and mold. Created in collaboration with Lou Blackshaw.

Patent No. GB1145630 - Fibre Optics - 1966

Sir Charles Kao developed the technology for transmitting light through glass fibres in the 1960s. Kao’s contribution was to show that light absorption was caused by impurities in the glass rather than the glass itself. Removing these impurities allowed light to travel much further, by bouncing down the cables. collaboration with Martin Godward.

Patent No. GB2496429 - Hawk Eye - 2013

Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The system uses cameras patented by Hawk-Eye, the British company founded by Dr.Paul Hawkins. Dr Hawkins was pondering the subject for his thesis and began investigating how rocket science might be applied to sports to track the trajectory of a ball.

Patent No. GB185601984 – Mauveine - 1856

William Perkin patented the first synthetic dye, ‘Mauveine’ in 1856. His discovery revolutionised fashion and fifty years later had led to the existence of 2,000 artificial colours. Perkin was in fact attempting to produce synthetic quinine at the time.

Patent No. GB1197183 – ATM - 1970

The first ATM machines used paper tokens or bespoke plastic to dispense set amounts of cash. Once used the cards where recovered by branch staff and the amounts debited manually from customers accounts. The cards would then be returned to the customer by post.

Patent No. GB645691 - Random Access Memory - 1950

The world’s first computer capable of running a stored program, the precursor to modern-day RAM, was built in the late 1940s by Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn.

Patent No. GB2433842 Metamaterials - 2007

Prof Sir John Pendry patented the first practical means for making what are known as ‘metamaterials’ in 1995. A composite of different elements with unique properties, their potential ability to bend light is the key behind current research into cloaking devices.

Patent No. GB2444656 Witt Energy - 2008

WITT technology was the brainchild of Martin Wickett. WITT is a patented energy harvesting technology that takes the chaotic motion that is all around us (in everything from wind to humans) and turns it into useable power. It can do this across all six degrees of motion and can be built from a few inches to many meters.

Patent No. GB2104522 Temozolomide - 1981

Cancer Research UK scientists discovered and carried out the first clinical trials of blockbuster brain tumor drug temozolomide. Used worldwide to treat people with the most common type of brain tumor, like most cancer drugs it works by stopping cancer cells from dividing thus effectively killing them.